The “love story” between Cypriot and Greek banks is back to the fore ten years after going sour following the collapse of the island’s banking system in 2013, Philenews reports.
The state of play today is totally different with Cypriot banks not having a capital problem.
On the contrary, they have capital supervisory cushions, excess liquidity, a significantly reduced volume of non-performing loans, they are proceeding with technological upgrades and have significantly reduced operating costs following numerous voluntary exit plans.
The re-warming of the flirtation between Greek and Cypriot banks took place with Eurobank which acquired 26% of Hellenic Bank last week.
And it is now only 4% short of reaching 30%, thus fully controlling the second largest systemic bank in Cyprus – a move that signals the extroversion of Greek banks and strengthening of their profitability.
The announcement of the takeover of the stake from Wargaming took place the departure of 450 employees from Hellenic Bank through a voluntary retirement plan. And only one day after the announcement of the lender’s nine-month results.